for teaching myself Japanese, do you think I should get the basics of grammar down first then go for vocab or the other way around? also does anyone have good tips for remembering things like conjujation, verbs, nouns, etc. I'm very bad at remember lots of different words!

My ways is to master any grammar structures first and add vocabulary to make sentenses. Mastering the "key" of Japanese language will help you know why some expressions must be in this way and not that way. Thus you can easily remember vocabulary.